A conventional magnetic material has been manufactured in the following manner.
First, ferrite raw powder is previously sintered, thereafter, the sintered mass is crushed. Particles obtained by the crushing operation are thereafter compressed in metallic dies. The compact removed from the metallic dies is sintered. Thus, the magnetic material is obtained. However, it is a well-known fact that the magnetic material manufactured in the above-described manner inevitably shrinks during the sintering process, and consequently, the magnetic material is designed considering this shrinkage so that it will have a slightly larger size than a desired size when it is sintered. Therefore, after the sintering process, the magnetic material must be cut to have the desired size and shape. However, since the magnetic material after sintered is extremely hard, a cutting blade wears considerably, and it must be replaced with a new one frequently. As a result, the manufacturing cost increase.
Consequently, there was suggested a magnetic material whose shrinkage during sintering was substantially prevented so that the above-mentioned cutting operation would not be required (cf. JP-A-1-264959). This magnetic material is manufactured by mixing magnetic powder with filling powder which is one kind selected from silicon, titanium and aluminum, compressing this mixture by metallic dies, and thereafter sintering the compact, which has been removed from the metallic dies, in an oxygen atmosphere or in a nitrogen atmosphere. In the case of this conventional magnetic material, oxidization expansion or nitrogenization expansion of the above-mentioned filling powder can decrease shrinkage of the magnetic material during sintering to an extremely small degree. However, silicon, titanium, aluminum or the like which is a non-magnetic material is mixed in the magnetic powder, and consequently, there arises a problem that the magnetic property as the magnetic material is deteriorated.
Thus, an objective of the invention resides in providing a magnetic material whose dimensional change due to sintering is small and whose magnetic property is not deteriorated.